Luxury fashion house Balenciaga recently unveiled its Fortnite-branded clothing collection, featuring denim jackets available at the hefty price tag of $1,290 a piece. The Epic Games battle royale shooter is wildly successful; in 2020, Fortnite was regarded as the most popular game ever with gamers having spent a combined cumulative total of 10,417,808 years at that point.
Fortnite's continued popularity comes from the game's constant evolution, with Epic Games expanding and improving the game with small patches and seasonal updates. Fortnite recently entered Season 8, bringing with it a number of gameplay updates. The game's narrative now involves a number of ominous and hostile Cube Monsters, which cause anomalies to appear throughout the shooter's large battle royale map. Season 8 also introduces monster hunter Torin and a number of new weapons to help players in their battles, including unique "sideways" weapons. These strange alien guns can be charged up for increased damage, but they can only be found in dangerous, corrupted areas.
Spanish fashion house Balenciaga now has Fortnite-branded clothing available, including $1,290 denim jackets. A majority of the pieces bear the Fortnite logo alongside a string of text which lists the phrase "Retail Row" in a number of different languages. Retail Row is a reoccurring section of Fortnite's battle royale map, usually taking the form of a detail store complex. Alongside the line's pricey denim jacket is a $395 cap, $725 hoodies and $495 T-shirts.
While Balenciaga's Fortnite collection might make some wallets squirm, Epic Games' beloved shooter has inspired other pieces of merchandise as well. Toy manufacturer Hasbro recently revealed two Fortnite action figures that comprise its Victory Royale Series Deluxe Pack. The pack includes character Jules, as well as the mechanical owl who serves as her unique glider, Ohm. Hasbro's deluxe pack comes with accessories like Jules' wrench, and a backpack that depicts Ohm in a resting position.
Fortnite may be an incredibly popular game, but Balenciaga's clothing collaboration is likely overestimating the game's audience. The line's prices are quite exorbitant, especially for articles of clothing that are unlikely to stand out in a crowd. A majority of the pieces are simply solid-color designs bearing the Fortnite logo, and occasionally the Retail Row multilingual text. While some might be pre-ordering Balenciaga's Fortnite jackets and T-shirts, many others will likely scoff at the line's prices and basic designs.
Fortnite is available on all platforms.
Source: Balenciaga US